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Veto  message  on 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #241 


DTTDTTEflDl 


y 


VETO  MESSAGE 


OF 


GOV.  THOMAS  O.  MOORE, 


ON    TIIE 


COTTON    BILL, 

I 


TO    THE 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


BATON    11  OH  OK  : 

T  O  M      I1YNUM       STATE      PRINTER. 

1861. 


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in  2011  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


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Tr 

VETO  MESSAGE. 


EXSCCTITB  OFFICE,  Baton  Rougo,  January  21st,  18G2. 

To  the  Honorable  the   Speaker  and 

Members  of  the  House  of  Representatives: 

I  return  to  the  House  of  Representatives  the  u  Act  for  the  relief  of  the 
cotton  planters  of  the  State  of  Louisiana."  After  a  careful  examination  of 
its  provisions,  made  with  every  desire  to  give  effect  to  the  expressed  wish  of 
the  Legislative  Department  of  the  Government,  when  consistent  with  the 
conscientious  discharge  of  my  own  functions,  I  find  my  ,  ejections  to  the  bill 
so  serious  and  vital  in  their  character  as  to  compel  me  no  withhold  my  ap- 
proval.    I  shall  proceed  to  state  those  objections. 

The  108th  article  of  the  Constitution  provides  that  "  the  State  shall  not 
subscribe  for  the  stock  of,  nor  make  a  loan  to,  nor  pledge  its  faith  for  the 
benefit  of  any  corporation  or  joint  stock  company  created  or  established  for 
banking  purposes,  nor  for  any  other  purposes  than  those  described  in  the 
109th  article.  It  is  argued  that  the  words  I  have  italicised  have  reference 
to  corporations  or  joint  stock  companies,  and  are  designed  to  enlarge  the 
circle  of  their  prohibited  purposes.  I  do  not  so  construe  it.  The  article  is  a 
manifest  prohibition  to  the  State  pledging  its  faith  for  any  purpose  except 
that  which  is  specified  in  the  following  article,  and  as  the  object  to  which 
the  faith  of  the  State  is  proposed  to  be  pledged  in  this  bill,  is  not  pretended 
to  be  included  in  the  powers  granted  by  the  109th  article,  I  think  it  comes 
within  the  prohibition  previously  declared         ^^ ^/ft./^  'y-v  /^ 

Whatever  doubt,  however,  might  exist  as  to  the  correctness  of  ^fehis  inter- 
pretation and  its  application  to  the  present  bill,  I  find  in  the  111th  article 
of  the  Constitution  an  imperative  requirement,  which  this  bill  fails  to  meet. 
It  reads  ''whenever  the  Legislature  shall  contract  a  debt  exceeding  in  amount 
the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  unless  in  case  of  war  to  repel  in- 
vasion or  suppress  insurrection,  they  shall,  in  the  law  creating  the  debt,  pro- 
vide adequate  ways  and  means  for  the  payment  of  the  current  interest,  and 
of  the  principal  when  the  same  shall  become  due." 

The  bill  now  under  consideration,  after  prescribing  certain  formulas  for 


the  affidavit  of  the  applicant  f<.r  relief,  the  •..  aiul 

the  certificate  of  attestation,  provides  that  the  applicant  shall  "<  cecnte  hie 

;  in  favor  of  tl  and  with 

iiirity,  when  the  applicant  o*  boated  in  this 

and  equal  to  the  bond  and  above   the  mortgagee  on  hie  property,  in 

amount  d  ben  ginned,  or 

one  and  a  quai  d,  payabl 

:"  and  attaehee  to  thie  :  ited  "th  of  a 

re  months' bond."     [t  provides  for  ;1 
the  cotton  to  I  d  on  the  bond,  and  in  casei  fa  refusal  by  tl 

of  the  j'tivil.  am f  Treasury  notes  tot! 

<>ulv  of  the  excess  in  the  value  of  hie  cotton,  on  t!  ment 

previously  stated  over  the  privile 

It  is  upon  the  presentation  of  these  bonds,  with  the  ant lent 

ments,  that  the  Auditor  of  Public  A nuts  shall  I  the 

State  Treasurer  for  the  amount  of  thebon  I,  tion. 

The  bond  itself  is  to  contain  a  positive  stipulation  for  tl        I  F  its 

amount  to  the  Sute  Trcasu;  tton  shall  be  Bold,   and  pledges 

the  proceeds  of  [  ic  sale  of  sai.l  cotton  to  i  1  is 

to  be  recorded  ujrthe  book  of  Judicial   Mori 

such  registry  operating  as  a  judicial  n  :'  the  ap- 

plicant.    If  theappllcuit  shall  fail  to  appropriate 

paid)  the  proceeds  of  tl  I  the  cotton  bo  pledged   in   redemption  of 

his  bond,  the, Auditor  is  required  to  issue  a  writ  of  fieri  facias,  with  in- 
terest from  its  date,  against  the  property  of  both  principal  and  surety, 
"  within  .eight  months  after  the  blockade  is  raised."  which  process  is  to 
have  the  "same. force  and  effect  of  a  fieri  facias  issued  upon  a  twelve 
months'  bond.*' 

These  are  the  ''ways  and  means''  provided  by  this  bill  for  the  redemp- 
tion and  payment  of  seven  millions  of  Treasury  nqteSj  all  of  which  be- 
come due  "at  the  expiration  ef  one  year  after  the  blockade  is  raised,"  and 
which  on  their  face  are  declared  .  sured  by  a  "pledge  of  the  ■••>ttou 

crop  of  tie-   State   of  l-  a,   i»!'  L861,   and  the  faith  of  the   81 

pledged'' — Sec.  2.      I  do  QOt  deem  them  :: 

The  cotton  crop  of  Louisiana  of  1861,  <  innot  be  pi 

either  for  that  or  any   other  purpose.     It  K 

longs  to  individuals  in  most  part — is  private  propert;  be  taken 

for  public  uses,  except  under  the  guarantei  b  of  the  Constitution.  It  is  not 
all  within  her  limits,  since  a   portion  of  it  has  already  '  It 

is  obviously  then  beyond  the  ■  the  Stal  tton  crop 

of  1861.     It  is,  however,  within  the  power  of  its   owners,  and  it  bee- 
important  to  ascertain  what  portion  of  that  crop  is  pledged  by  this  bill,  and 
whether  that  limited  pledge  is  moie  than  nominal. 


It  is  very  clear  that  only  that  "quantity  of  cotton"  is  pledged  which 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  applicant  "as  owner,  administrator,  executor,  tutor 
or  agent,"  and  it  is-,  therefore,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  such  quantity  only 
that  is  required  to  be  paid  into  the  Treasury  in  redemption  of  his  bond. 
iotton  in  the  hands  of  any  owner  who  does  not  choose  to  become  an 
t,  can  be  pretended  to  be  pledged.  It  the  applicant  chooses  to 
pell  his  cotton,  he  is  at  perfect  HI  lo  so.     It  remains  in  his  hands. 

If  he  sells,  the  purchaser  obtains  a  good  title.  The  State  cannot  proceed 
either  against  the  cotton  or  its  proceeds.  Not  only  is  there  no  machinery 
provided  by  which  the  simulated  privilege  of  the  State  can  be  enforced 
but  in  point  of  facl  afld  law,  b  me  is  created  by  the  act.  I  do  not  over- 
look the  provisions  of  the  17th  Section,  which  denounces  the  felonious 
alienation  with  a  criminal  penally.  The  enforcement  of  that  pro- 
>H  by  punishment  of  the  felonious  act  does  not  advance  a  step  to- 
ls  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution,  that  adequate  ways  and  means" 
shall  be  provided  for  the  payment  of  the  note.  The  punishment  of  the 
criminal  a  institute  a  part  of  the  machinery  tor   the  enforce- 

ment of  a  civil  obligation.     What  is  that  machinery?      \ 

By  the  14th  Section,  the  Auditor  is  authorized  to  i-st  J  a  ft.  fa.,  within 
eight  months  after  thei>lockade  is  raised  against  the  property  of  the  de- 
faulting obliger  and  his  surety.  But  can  the  Legislature,  or  the  State 
officer  acting  under  its  mandate,  seize  the  property  of  any  onefortfefa? 
It  may  for  taxes,  for  they  are,  in  the  nature  of  a  contribution,  exacted  by 
Government  for  its  purposes,  but  it  belongs  to  the  Judiciary  to  determine 
whether  or  not  the  debt  exists.  The  Legislature  cannot  exercise  judicial 
sanctions.  That  department  can  make  laws  and  repeal  th-in,  but  in  doing 
BOj  it  cannot  take  from  a  citizen  the  rights  he  may  have  acquired  under  a 
particular  law,  nor  can  it  assume  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  judicial 
department  and  decree  or  adjudge  how7  the  laws  shall  be  administered  in 
relation  to  a  particular  right.  It  can  say  for  what  breaches  of  its  enact- 
ments, or  for  what  omissions  of  duties  imposed,  fines  and  forfeitures  shall 
be  incurred  ;  but  it  has  no  right  to  try  a  case  on  an  allegation  of  a  breach 
of  what  the  law  requires,  or  of  the  non-performance  of  an  obligation  or 
contract,  and  to  decide  the  case  in  favor  of  the  State  or  against  it,  and  then 
execute  its  own  dee 

In  the  discussion  of  the  adequacy  of  the  ways  and  means  provided  by 
the  bill  for  the  t  of  the  debt  it  creates,  it  is  necessary  to  proceed 

further.  The  whole  of  tt»e  seven  millions  becomes  due  at  the  expiration 
of  one  year  after  the  blockade  is  raised.  The  proceeds  of  the  bonds  are 
the  sole  security  for  the  redemption  of  these  notes.  Payment  is  not  to 
be  exacts 1  nntil  within  eight  months  after  that  event.  The  Auditor  is 
permitted  to  grant  the  longest  delay  to  the  debtor,  and  but  four  months 
will  remain  to  make  the  property  of  the  debtor  and  his  surety  available  for 


G 

L     If  litigation  ensues  and  the  shield  of  injunctions, 

-tponc,  as  it  will  assuredly  be,  the  time  of  payment  will 

:   the  maturity  of  the  Treasury  notes.    If  this 

le,  the  "ways  and  means'1  arc  not  "adequate.11 

of  the  applicant  will,  in  many  oases,  be  encumbered  with 

of  the  State.    It  is  exposed  at  public  sale  under 

■   bring  enough  to  satisfy  the  older  mortgs 

thing  will  be  made  to  the  Treasury  by  the  Issuance  of  the 

li.  ra  By  the  15th  section,  the  Sheriff  is  directed 

te  the  writ   as    iii  ease  of  twelve  mouths'   bonds.     The  property 

will  then  be  exposed  for  cash,  and  under  a  recent  act  of  this  Legislature 

lor  its  full  appraisement,  made  as  of  April,  1861.     If  these  requisites  are 

with,  by   that  acl  the  property  is  restored  to  the  defendant, 

Sheriff  (the  State)  must  pay  the  costs. 

will  not  follow  in  every  case,  but  if  the  prompt  and  putic- 
tuel  payment  of  these  bonds  is  the  only  ways  and  means  provided  for  the 
.  reasury  notes,  those  ways  and  means  cannot  be  adequate 
if  they  follow  yi  any  case. 

.  pi    -  ribing  the  form  uf  the  bond,  stipulates  the  period 

of  maturity  aftjme  time  when  the  "  cotton  shall  be  sold,"   and   the   1-4 th 

rovidea  for  issuing  a.  fieri  facial  "  in  cast-  the  applicants  shall  not 

appr  I  pay,  or  cause  to  be  paid,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  said 

in  into  the  State  Treasury."     What  becomes  of  this  obligation  if  the 

by  fire  or  the  dangers  of  the  river?     There  is  no  obligation 

to  insure,  and  if  insured,  no  obligation  to  transfer  the   policy.     Is  it  said 

i  not  whether  the  cotton  be  burned,  or  whether  a  Bale  is  ever 

made,  so  only  that  the  bond  is  paid  ?     But  if  the  e.ottou  be  not  sold,  then 

the]  cannot  b<   paid  in,  and  the  contingency  then  does  not 

occur  upon  which  alone  the  Auditor  can   issue  his  writ,  for  he  can  only 

the  applicant  shall  not  pay  the  proceed*  of  the  sale  of  said 

r.  into  the  Treasury.     Where,  then,  is  the  remedy  when  the  applicant 

his  C    ttOD  nor  pays  his  bond  ? 

As  a  conclusive  test  of  the  adequacy  of  the  ways  and  means  which  the 
titution  requires  to  be  provided,  it  is  proper  for  each  individual  to  in- 
quin  ro  himsell  proposing  to  lend  money,  (for  this  bill  does  but 

provide  a  loan  J   wonld  the  security  proposed  in  this  bill  be  regarded  as 
sufficient  if  the  cottoo  planter  applied  to  him  for  ■  loan  \    I  do  not  think 
•  one  answer  to  such  an  inquiry. 
There  is  another  objection,  not  necessary  to  be  elaborated,  having  refer- 
to  the   prohibition   contained  in  the  Provisional  Constitution  of  the 
,  which  is  ai  this  time  in  force.     That  Constitution  pro- 
hibit- any  State  from  emitting  bills  of  credit,  and  the  power  assumed  in 
this  bill  most  ol<  arly  comes  within  that  prohibitive  clause.     If  it  be  denied 


that  this  Constitution  is  in  operation,  it  is  only  necessary  to  say  (although 
this  is  an  issue  foreign  to  the  present  legitimate  inquiry)  that  both  gov- 
ernments cannot  be  understood  to  exist  at  the  same  time.  The  new  gov- 
crnment  does  not  commence  until  the  old  government  expires.  If  the  per- 
manent Constitution  had  been  our  supreme  law  since  its  ratification  by  five 
States,  the  legislation  of  the  Provisional  Congress  since  that  time  would 
be  of  no  effect,  since  by  that  Constitution  the  legislative  power  is  vested  in 
two  Houses.  It  is  analagous  to  the  succession  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  the  operation  of  which  was 
in  conformity  to  the  views  I  have  expressed. 

There  arc  other  features  in  this  bill  which  I  do  not  approve,  but  I  have 
confined  my  objections  to  those  wherein  there  is  a  failure  to  comply  with 
constitutional  requirements. 

THOS.  0.  MOORE. 


v. 


?\'- 


J 


Hollinger  Corp. 
pH8.5 


